The Pledge
by Charlaina Di Heyse
Summary: Orignal Story In the Violent Country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak The smallest issue, like looking a member of the higher class in the eye while they are speaking in their native tongue, is punishable by death.
1. Summary

_**The Pledge**_

In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking in their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina (Nick named Charlie) has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her only place where she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs, where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in, it's there that she meets a beautiful boy named Max, who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills become real emergencies and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger; her country's only change of freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.


	2. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

**_142 Year After The Revolution Of Sovereigns_**

The air crackled like a gathering thunderstorm the moment the girl entered the chamber. She was just a child, but her presence changed everything.

With effort, the queen turned her head on the pillow as she watched the little girl pad into the chamber on slippered feet. The child kept her chin tucked tightly against her chest as her fingers clutched the sides of her nightgown, clenching and unclenching nervously.

Maybe the queen's guards weren't even aware of the change in the air, but she was suddenly conscious of the blood coursinh through her veins, the quickening of her pulse, and the sound of each breath she took-no longer ragged and wheezing.

She turning her attention to the men who'd escorted the child. "Leave us," she declared in a voice that had once been filled with authority but now came out hoarse and papery.

They had no reason to question the command, certainly the girl would be safe with her own mother.

The child jumped at the sound of the door closing behind her, her eyes widening, but she still refused to meet her mother's stare.

"Princess Sabara," the queen said softly, in her quietest voice, trying to gain the young girl's trust. In her daughter's six short years, the queen had spent little time with her, leaving her in the care of governesses, nurses, and tutors. " Come closer, my darling. "

The girl's feet shuffled forward, but her eyes remained fastened on the floor-a trait reserved for lower classes, her mother noted bitterly. Six was young, maybe too young, but she'd delayed for as long as she could. The queen was young too; her body should have many good years remaining but now she lay sick and dying, and she could no longer afford to wait. Besides, she'd been grooming the girl for this day.

When the girl reached her bedside, the queen held out her hand, tipping the child's small chin upward and forcing the young princess to meet her eyes. "You're the eldest girl child born to me," she explained- a story she'd told the child dozen of times already, reminding her of just how special she was. How important. "But we've already talked about his, haven't we? You're not afraid, are you? "

The little girl shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears as they darted nervously one way then the other.

"I need you to be brave, Sabara. Can you be brave for me? Are you ready?"

And then the girl's shoulders stiffened as she steadied herself, finding her queen's eyes at last. " Yes, Mamma, I'm ready. "

The queen smiled. The girl was ready; young but ready.

_She will be a beauty in her time,_ the queen though, studying the girl's smooth porcelain skin and her soft, shining eyes. _She will be strong and powerful and feared, a force to be reckoned with. Men will fall at her feet. . ._

_. . .and she will crush them._

_She wil be a great queen_

_She took a shaky breath. It was time._

She reached for the girl, clutching the child's tiny fingers in hers, the smile evaporating from her lips as she concentrated on the task at hand.

She ushered forth her soul, that part deep inside of her that made her who she was. Her Essence. She could feel it coiling tightly inside of her, still full of life in ways that her body no longer was.

"I need you to say the words, Sabara." It was nearly a plea, and she hoped the girl didn't realize how badly she needed her, how desperate she was for this to work.

The little girl's gaze remained fastened to the queen, and her chin inched up a notch as she spoke the words they'd rehearsed. "Take me, Mamma. Take me instead. "

The queen inhaled sharply, the muscles of her hand seizing around the girl's as she closed her eyes. It wasn't pain she felt. In fact, it was closer to pleasure as her Essence unfurled, misting and swirling like a dense fog as it spread through her, breaking free from its constraints at last.

She heard the child gasp, and felt her struggle, trying to free her fingers from her mother's grip. But it didn't matter now; it was too late. She'd already said the words.

The overwhelming sense of ecstasy nearly shattered her, and then dulled, fading again as her Essence settled into a new space, curling into itself once more. Finding peace at long last.

She kept her eyes squeezed tight, not ready to yet open them, not ready to know whether the transfer had worked or not. And then she heard the faintest of sounds, a soft gurgling. Followed by nothing.

A deafening silence.

Slowly-so very slowly- she opened her eyes to see what it was . . .

. . . and found herself standing at the side of the bed, staring into the empty eyes of the dead queen. Eyes that had once belonged to her.


End file.
